


Keeper of the Underworld

by VenomQuill



Category: Terraria
Genre: BUT I STILL LOVE IT, Corruption, Gen, Hallow, Terraria is an old game, Zarkwrath is the name of the planet, corrupt versus hallow, dark magic versus light, war is inevitable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 22:05:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12241524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Zarkwrath was a world like any other- filled with people, goblins, and magic. Unfortunately, it is not human nature to stay at peace. When the worst of magic was utilized and war ravaged Zarkwrath, a power so ancient it proceeded life on Zarkwrath woke.





	Keeper of the Underworld

When the ancient people lived here, there was peace. Wizards and witches controlled vast powers and communicated with nature. There were inventors who created beautiful artifacts and many times worked alongside their magical friends to create mechanical miracles. There were merchants who'd cross seas to trade and some would move to new homes. Doctors and nurses created miracles. The creatures of Zarkwrath were at peace with their human neighbors. Even the goblins, though rarely shown, begrudgingly lowered their weapons and traded magical artifacts and knowledge to better both races. However, not all humans cooperated.

Some of the First People fell into Dark Arts, jealous of the magic-wielders for their use of the arcane arts. It took years to fully master spells, enchanting and tricks. This taught them patience and respect for the world around them. However, these people who envied their powers but were too impatient to learn instead delved into darker ‘magic’. They created the first evil beings: giant, floating eyeballs that struck and attacked anything that moved. Their leader was a giant eye promptly named ‘Eye of Cthulhu’ who was even more savage. Their magical counterparts were not impressed. They demanded that these foul abominations be destroyed at once. However, their creators turned at them immediately and first there was an argument. Then, there was a war.

Many people opted to stay out of this war. The endeavor was futile and all were forced to choose sides. The inventors and many of the traders chose the side of the wizards, for their friendship and hatred of the dark creatures rallied them. A few other traders and the goblins chose the side of the experimenters as they were promised land and blood.

They clashed for some time before the experimenters realized they were losing; too many had died. Then they snapped the rules of nature further by resurrecting their dead into an army of zombies. The wizards, tinkerers and traders were at a loss. They dare not dabble in such arts, but the fear of the rising dead shook them! Still, the side of dark was driven back. The side of dark was not easily disposed of. Possessed suits of armor, wraiths, giant worms they called ‘diggers’ were called forth. They were evening the odds. However, their minions were, again, driven back.

In a panic, now, as their numbers still dwindled, they captured prisoners from their enemy and took volunteers of their own and created the first werewolves. Their tempers rabid and each bite infectious, their playing field was leveled and their numbers swelled more rapidly now. Still, their enemies refused to tamper with nature and eventually they gained the upper hand. Then, out of sheer desperation, the side of Dark did the unthinkable. They tainted the land. The Corruption, they called it.

“If we can't have it, nobody can. A new world will be built out of the ashes and it will be ours!” they cried. Corruptors, who spread their foul corruption, Eaters, Devourers, Slimers, Corrupt slimes, Dark mummies, Clingers, a giant Cursed Hammer all resided, bred, and waited there. It was guarded by the Eater of Worlds and its minions the World Feeders. The wizards and their allies could not hold back any longer.

They created the Hallow, for it was a safe haven. From it was birthed Pixies, Unicorns, Wraiths, Gastropods, Illuminant slimes and bats, Chaos Elementals, a giant Enchanted Sword and Light Mummies. This biome, too, spread but it was slower, gentler and did not devour the land. Instead it nourished it. They pleaded with the great dragon race, the wyverns, for aid and eventually the wise, gentle creatures agreed. They resided in the Hallow, reveling in its beauty and peace. The wizards felt ashamed of themselves for tampering with nature so, but were desperate. The Tinkerers, for a taste of irony, re-constructed the evil guardians out of metal and magic, giving them souls and waking them. They were ferocious beyond belief, but stayed their ‘hands’ until called upon. The Dark Ones, they were now called, fought viciously with their enemies, the Light Ones. This war eventually woke the Keeper.

The Keeper of the Underworld, the heart of Zarkwrath, awoke in a fury. His world was being torn apart! He bellowed in a voice that carried to the surface “ENOUGH!” His voice calmed the creatures of the Hallow, cowed the monsters of the Corruption, shook the warriors of Light and warriors of Dark alike. Even the mighty sky-creatures, the dragons, shook in their paws and the great beasts named the Eye of Cthulhu, his Twins, and the World Eater and even the thinking mechanical creatures paused in fear.

The Keeper carried on, “Your selfish war has ravaged my land! Dark creatures who feed upon Zarkwrath and abominations who command them! Stop, I say, stop! This war will go no further! Humans have obviously lost the right to live here.” The ground beneath them all trembled. The dragons let go of the trembling earth with a cry of fear and flew to their sky-haven. Flying creatures of the dark tried to take flight but stopped dead, paralyzed. Unicorns whinnied in despair and Pixies fluttered frantically. “You, meddlers of evil, shall haunt this world for the rest of your days, trapped in a curse that shall never lift!”  Zombies, frenzied by his influence attacked their masters, bringing a slaughter. Werewolves transformed as if under the influence of the moon and attacked with vicious ferocity, not killing, only infecting… just like the zombies. Those who were killed decomposed at a rapid rate, leaving only bones who stirred and turned to attack the living. Soon only one lived unharmed.

“You, I shall leave living.” The Keeper growled but before the Commander could howl his gratitude, the Keeper snarled, “ _But forever will you be cursed!_ Forever will you stand as an example, slaughtering those close to you and never dying, never truly living, until a merciful, or foolish, soul frees you… if they can. Now I name you Skeletron, Commander of the Dead, commander of the ruin of what was once your army!” The Commander let out a screech of agony and fainted dead away.

The Keeper then spoke the Warriors of Light. “You have been faithful.” His voice was gentle. “You have earned your right to live. Unfortunately, that cannot be. I will show mercy. I dub you Guardians of this world. You will use magic and clever traps and inventions to protect the world you love. Your bodies shall do so as, unfortunately, I have to kill you. I made a promise to Zarkwrath.”

“We understand,” came the reply of the humble wizards, though they, too, feared how the Keeper would kill them. The Keeper truly was merciful. They grew too exhausted to stand, to think, to speak, and soon they, too, were forever asleep in death and their skeletons put to work in the field.

“Zarkwrath cannot handle this,” mumbled the Keeper. The Hallow vanished; it's inhabitants vanishing along with it just as painlessly as their masters. The dragons were put into a deep slumber and the mummies back to rest. However, to serve as reminder, the Keeper only removed most of the Corruption and slowed it’s spread to nonexistence. The weakest of the corrupted stayed, the rest mercilessly finished. The mechanical guardians were gone as well but, oddly enough, the corrupted beasts, the Eye of Cthulhu and the World Eater, eluted the Keeper’s grasp. “You are now only memories. I cannot banish you entirely. Woe be the day if I, or when I, die and I fail Zarkwrath as a whole.” Then, the Keeper of the Underworld, also known as the Wall of Flesh, fell asleep once again.

Dawn broke on the first day of the new world and the young Commander opened his eyes and cried his heartbreak and despair to a world devoid of living humans.

**Author's Note:**

> What's this? Something not Gravity Falls related and has no hidden codes? :O
> 
> Eyyyy look at what I found! I haven't played Terraria since high school... like... my sister and I bought the game when you couldn't heal over time. We stopped playing around the time to the mechs were introduced, which was when I wrote this. Highschool me was awful, I swear. So, I had this theory that the Wall of Flesh was some sort of guardian or ancient being or something because as soon as you killed it, the Hallow would appear and the Corruption was mega awful. New enemies and all that jazz. ~~I never did kill the twins.~~ Disclaimer: I only edited out grammatical errors and broke paragraphs apart. The writing style and content is me, like, five years ago.
> 
> ...I feel old, now.


End file.
